Love Hina Fan Fiction ❯ Immortal Flame ❯ Chapter 14: Waivering Faith ( Chapter 14 )

Chapter 14: Waivering Faith

The temperature had risen slightly, signaling the coming of summer. Within the walls of Kyoto, people moved along unhurried. Despite that, they all moved around with the worry of an attack at any time. The soldiers ran to and fro gathering weapons or training recruits.

Takeru half smiled as he watched a group of recruits practice. Still wet behind the ears, these rookies were still learning to hold their swords properly. A light chuckle came from beside him. He turned to look at Tsuruko, a smile on her face, “They are so funny for the first week.”

Takeru nodded, “Yeah. Yet these kids will be in the thick of it with us.”

The older Aoyama nodded, the smile fading slightly. With feigned interest, she continued watching the recruits train. Takeru bowed his head slightly, “I never told you thanks.”

She closed her eyes lightly, “You never need to, Takeru.”

“No,” he said turning from the recruits, “I need to say it, if not for your sake, then mine. Thank you, Tsuruko.”

A wisp of a smile came to her lovely features, “Your welcome, Takeru.”

Silence fell between them, with only the sounds of the world around them disturbing it. Clearing his throat, Takeru looked around for a moment, “By the way, where is your shadow?”

The raven haired woman sighed, “Last I saw of Sarah, she had been talking with Mei. No doubt planning some trouble.”

He chuckled, “Perhaps I should go prevent it then.”

Starting to leave, he stopped at the sounding of a horn. Tsuruko and he shared a look of confusion as they looked towards the gate. The large doors were slowly opening, allowing a single rider into the compound. Rushing down the stairs, they both came to meet the rider. It wasn't, however, until they got closer did they notice the open wounds across his body.

Tsuruko nearly gasped as she recognized the young man, “That was one of the men that went with my husband!”

Takeru's heart wrenched in his chest as neared the wounded man. He reached him in just enough time to catch him as he fell off of his horse from exhaustion and blood loss. Applying sudden pressure to the wounds, Takeru turned to the nearest soldier, “Get a medic! Now!”

Some random soldier obeyed and ran towards the medical wing. Tsuruko knelt beside the man, “Nobu! What happened? Where is my husband?”

The injured man coughed, blood spilling out across his chin, “Lady Tsuruko. We…we were….ambushed…and…I-I'm sorry.”

The woman gingerly brushed a stray hair from his head as Takeru hastened to prevent anymore blood loss, “What do you mean?”

Nobu coughed again, more blood escaping his lips, “They told me….to run…and …to get help…but it was too…too late…Lord Yoshiro…he…he fell as….I rode…away.”

Tsuruko's face suddenly drained of color, “What?”

The soldier began to fade as his eyes closed, “Forgive me…Lady…Tsuruko…”

She griped the dead soldier's collar, “It's not true!”

Gently, Takeru wiped his hands of the blood and pulled Tsuruko to her feet. He calmly led her away, “Tsuruko, calm down.”

Immediately, she fell against him beating her fists against his chest, “I know it's not true! He can't be….”

Tugging her towards the main building, Takeru gently rubbed her shoulders, “You need to calm down, Tsuruko.”

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Motoko and Hina rushing towards him. Gently, he set Tsuruko down on a nearby barrel away from the on lookers. The two caught up to them quickly. Tsuruko, still in shock, but was now quietly sobbing. Motoko took one look at her sister and then looked at Takeru. He looked away gently, pain in his eyes. Gingerly and with great care, she slowly helped her sister to her feet, “Come on, sister. Let's get you inside and brew some tea for you.”

The older sister mutely complied as Motoko ushered her inside. Takeru and Hina watched them go, neither speaking a word. When the two were out of sight, Hina turned to him, “What happened, Takeru?”

The young man frowned deeply, “Her husband was ambushed.”

With all that could be said, those words summed it up best. Hina felt a pang of sadness in her heart as she looked in the direction the sisters had left, “Oh, dear.”

Slumping against the nearest wall, Takeru looked down at what little blood still covered his hands, “No one is unaffected by this war. Not the strongest or the weakest of us is spared.”

The older woman nodded slowly, “You do realize that this fortress will be the next target for Vosk, right?”

Takeru nodded, his eyes closed, “And from what I understand, where Yoshiro was is not more than three days march from here.”

Hina looked at the recruits slowly returning to practice, “I'll send a scout to check how many are coming. No doubt Vosk sent more than enough to tear down these walls stone by stone.”

A small whimper from behind them alerted them to another's presence. Turning, they found the form of Shinobu standing no more than a few feet away. A look of pain was in her tear soaked eyes, “Their coming here?”

Resigning himself to the truth, Takeru stood upright, “I'm afraid so, Shinobu.”

She looked to Hina for confirmation, receiving only a small nod in response. The older woman than looked away slightly, affirming her response. Tears began to fall from Shinobu's eyes, “You'll protect us won't you, Takeru?”

His shoulders slumped slightly, “Against the number they most likely will bring to bear, even I won't stand much chance.”

The tears began to fall rapidly down her cheeks, “You said you'd protect us! You said Keitaro would come back soon! Everything you've told me is a lie!”

Before they could react, she turned and ran. Takeru's heart filled with pain as he watched the girl run from him. Hina clicked her tongue in sadness, “Such pain from someone so young.”

Takeru frowned heavily, “Perhaps I should go speak with her.”

“No,” Hina said, looking at him, “Let me.”

He looked at her for a moment, and then nodded, “I'll go dispatch a scout to recon the enemy. Hopefully Vosk is too arrogant to think we're more of a threat than we are.”

Hina shook her head lightly, “Hope is something we can't afford right now, Takeru.”

She turned and bid farewell to Takeru as she went to track down the disheartened girl.

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The view to the south was beautiful in the early morning sun. However, the young blue haired girl was balled up with her back to the wall. Tears streaking down her cheeks at the thought of today's events. Clenching her eyes shut, she fought back the rising anger in her heart.

`How could he say such things,' she thought, replaying Takeru's words in her head, `He promised nothing would happen to us, but now he's given up!'

“Shinobu?”

Startled, she looked up to see Ichiro standing at the stairs. Concern was etched on his face, “Are you alright?”

She buried her head back in her hands, “I don't know what to believe, Ichiro.”

From between her fingers, she saw him cross to her side. A hand came to rest on her shoulder, “What happened?”

Her heart still at war with her mind, she threw herself into Ichiro. A bit shaken by the suddenness, he cautiously returned the embrace. The warmth of her skin against him was so new and strange to him. His arms rested lightly around her small frame, neither speaking until she calmed, “Keitaro's not coming. The enemy's getting closer and their going to kill us. Every one of us!”

A frown appeared on Ichiro's face, “Don't worry. They could smash against these walls with everything they have and still they wouldn't crumble.”

“But what if they did get in,” she said, gripping him tighter, “What would happen to everyone? What would happen to me?”

Ichiro let his thoughts run for a moment, then remembered something from long ago. Something his brother had told him as a child when he was scared. He pulled her back to look him in the eyes, “Then I'll protect you.”

She looked at him disbelieving, “Why would you do that? I'm not worth saving.”

Ichiro opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted by a new voice, “Because each and every one of us is worth saving.”

They turned to look at Hina as she looked upon the two. She calmly looked to Ichiro, “Would you mind giving us a moment alone, Ichiro?”

He looked from Hina to Shinobu, and nodded. Gently removing Shinobu's arms form around him, he stood and walked past Hina and disappeared down the stairs. When she was sure they were alone, Hina let the calm demeanor around her slip. Shinobu looked at Hina, really noticing just how old she really was.

Walking towards the wall, Hina sighed, Shinobu. I know you have questions. Some are easy to understand. Some are hard to bear hearing.”

Standing shakily, Shinobu looked at the old woman, “I want to know why Takeru is the way he is. I want to know why he doubts himself so much.”

She watched as Hina's shoulders slumped visibly, “About four months after Takeru was born, his mother was captured by a rogue psionicist. He had tricked her into believing he was on the right side and persuaded her to follow him. When she disappeared, I took Takeru in and raised him. He was very strong for such a young phoenix. It wasn't until about nine years ago, before any of you arrived at Hinata Inn, that everything went sour.”

“At the time, Haruka was betrothed to a young and strong phoenix from another clan. They were happily in love. In the spirit of happiness, Tsuruko visited at that time. I had sent Takeru down into the town with Haruka's fiancée to retrieve some food and supplies for the small party we were planning,” Hina continued, a small tear forming in her eye, “While there, a woman appeared from nowhere. Takeru saw her and instantly recognized her. She was his mother. Apparently she had gotten loose from the psionicist and found him. The reunion was tearful. It was also short lived.”

The older woman turned to look at Shinobu, “The psionicist found her, and in a rage killed her. Takeru watched his mother die right before his very eyes. It was then that he vowed revenge for her death and chased the psionicist against my daughters' fiancées advice. He sent a mental plea of help to me and Tsuruko and we joined the chase.”

She gently wiped away a tear from her eye, “ We followed until we finally caught up with them. But by then the psionicist had managed to twist Takeru's thoughts. He made him believe we were the enemy and responsible for his mother's death. It was because of this corruption that his flame burns blue instead of red. He attacked relentlessly. During the battle, the psionicist disappeared as we were barely able to survive the fight.”

More tears came to her aged face, “Haruka's fiancée then did the unthinkable. He threw himself in front of Takeru, taking a blow that was intended for Tsuruko. The blade pierced his heart, killing him. It only registered in Takeru's mind for a split second before he realized what he'd done. The lapse in thought was enough for Tsuruko and myself to subdue him. After the battle, we brought him here and placed him within a special room designed to hold him. While he was in it, it took us nearly a year to undo the damage that had been done to his psyche.”

Shinobu choked back tears unsuccessfully, “What was his name?”

Hina frowned deeply, “Hikiro. He was Ichiro's brother.”

The blue haired girl sobbed openly, “What does this have to do with me?”

The older woman turned to look at her, a small measure of sadness in her eyes, “Don't become like him, Shinobu. He second guesses himself each day. Listen to your heart to what you know is right.”

Looking at the older woman, Shinobu felt her tears surge forward again. Sinking to her knees, she cried. Sympathetically and saddened, Hina walked to the young lady and pulled her into a warm hug. She gently rocked the girl as she soothed her tears.

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Takeru frowned heavily at the setting sun. A few hours had passed since a scout had been sent to investigate. Since that time, any and all available that could fight were being outfitted and trained to fight. He took a deep breath, a silent prayer on his mind for the impending battle.

From behind him, he heard the familiar footsteps of Ichiro. His frown deepened, “Have you sent for reinforcements?”

The teen nodded as he stepped up beside Takeru, “Yes, but odds are against us they will come in time to help. The scout also returned a few moments ago. He was out of breath and his horse barely able to stand, but alive.”

Takeru breathed a long held sigh of relief, “And? What news does he bring?”

Ichiro crossed his arms, his eyes slightly downcast, “At least ten thousand of Vosk's men are headed straight here. They'll arrive in three days time.”

The older of the two lowered his head, “Far too many for us to hold against. We only have close to two thousand here. The odds are definitely in their favor.”

“That's not all,” Ichiro said, clenching his fists tightly, “Two of his generals are leading them.”

The violet haired man sighed, “Which ones?”

Ichiro spat, “Gaaz and Devar.”

Takeru shifted uncomfortably in the other's presence, “The Horned One and the Deceiver.”

From beside him, Ichiro scoffed, “It should be a walk in the park for you.”

A small pang of regret wound it's self around his heart in Takeru's chest. Bracing himself against the wall, he closed his eyes, “I'm not going to ask for forgiveness. I don't deserve it. But at least give me one thing, Ichiro.”

Ichiro looked at Takeru skeptically, “What?”

Looking at him, Takeru held an impassive look, “Fight by my side. Like your brother once did.”

The teen scoffed lightly and turned to walk away. Takeru watched for a moment, then looked away. The footsteps stopped for a second, “For my brother, not you. For Hikiro.”

Takeru smiled faintly, “Thank you, Ichiro.”

End of Chapter 14